Water-craft-propelling mechanism



v F. L,. QERVERA WATER CRAFT PROPELLING MECHANISM Filed Aug; 6, 1925 J n. Ill

Ma r/2 1% ulllll Patented Dec. 8, 1925.

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Application filed August 6, 1925 Serial No 43,;93.

To ((ZZLUZLQ??? it may concern.

Be-itknown that I, ltunn nuoliorna vines; a citizen of thefUnited" States of MGXi'QQ, residing at Taouba, Distrito Federal; Mexico, haveinveiited certain new and useful Improvements in TWater-Cra it Propelling Mechanism, of whicli thefollowing is a specification. i

This inventionrelates to new and useful improvements in water c raft propelling q i lgni A) a v .7

The primary object of the invention is to provide" a" mechanism by ineans of which .a rowboat, or"the'like flnafbe manually propelled while the operator of the mechanism is toward the front or bow of the boat, whereby greater'safety is insuredby enabling" the craft to be more accurately steered;

A further object of the invention is to provide a mounting for the above referred to propelling mechanism which will do away with the risk of losing an oar'eucouiitered by persons using ord'in ary oars' having ismovable oajrlocks.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a propelling'meehanism which may be folded a-gainst'the inner side of gunwale when noti n use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparcnt'duringthe course ofthefo'llowing description. 4

Iiifthe accompanyingdrawing forming a partfoi this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts"throughout the same, a

' Figured isa'fragmentaryside elevational view of thepora lft propelling mechanism embodying th s invention and shown" properly mounted upon a gunwale of a i'owboat, or e ik if Figure 2 is a top plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig; 1 and is intended to illustrate the range of movement lf tlle handle and blade portions :ot' the propelling mechanism, 5

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of a gunwale with the mechanism shown in Fig.

1 folded into an inoperative position against the inner side of the said gunwale, and

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 with a top housing plate removed.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpos? of illustration is shown a preferred embodi ment of this invention, the numeral 5 desk;

nates the gunwale of a rowb o at, or the like, upon "the upper face of whioh'is mounted a bracket 6 having the upstanding, spaced, aperture-d ears? through the apertures of which extendsa rod Pivotally mounted housing. The lower plate 12 is formed with diametrically opposed,"upstanding bosses 14 towhioh the upper p'late13 is secured by means of the screws '15.

' Itwill be noted, by inspecting Figs. 2 to t inclusive, thatthe'plates l2 and 13 are of elongated" formation 'and have passing through suitable apertures formed therein the spaced shafts 16 which extend below the vbottom plate and are connected at their lower endsby the arcuate arm 17 As best shown in Figs. 1," 2 and l, the portions of the shaft 16 located: between the plates 12 and 13 have rotatably mounted thereon the toothed sectors 18 and 19 which have their teeth constantly meshing with each other; E'Xtendingradially from the sector 18 is a sOeliet QO which is intended to receive the shank portion '21 of a handle 22 which, for convenience; will be termed an oar'ha-n'dle portion. The toothed sector 19 is also provided with a radially extending socket 28 which is 'intended'to receive the shank portion 24 ot a blade '25 which will he termedthe oar blade portion;

Rotatably meunted'upon theportions oi the shaft 16 extending between theends oi thearm 17 and the lower' plate 12 are the supporting arms 26 and27 which have connections 28 and 29 respectively with the sockets 20 and 23. Theo uter end of the sup porting bracket 26 is providedwith a ring portion 30 through which the shank portion 21" of the oar' handle 22 extends. This ring 30'is provided with a set sore-will by means i 'wh'ichthe oar handle portion 22 may be held against longitudinal movement to permit the shank 21 to be adjustably received within the socket 520. The remaining supporting arm 27 is also provided at its outer end with. a ring 32 through which extends the shank portion 24- of the oar blade part 25. The set screw 33 carried by the ring 32 Uti is intended to function in the same manner as the set screw 31, i. e., to permit the shank 24- to be adjustably received and held within the socket 23.

To reduce friction as much as possible between the relatively movable portions of this propelling mechanism, the sectors 18 and 19 are provided with anti-friction rollers 3% while the opposite faces of the socket portions 20 and 23 are provided with balls which are received in suitable depressions formed in the said shanks and bear against the plates 12 and 13. The thrust bearings 36 are provided between the lower faces of the journaled ends of the supporting arms 26 and 27 and the opposite ends of the connecting arm 17 to overcome friction between these relatively movable portions.

In Fig. 2 the paths through which the handle and blade portions of the propelling mechanism move are intended to be outlined by the dotted lines. It will be understood that when the handle portion 22 moves toward the dotted line (t-, the oar blade portion will move toward the dotted line while movement of the handle portion 22 toward the dotted line c-- will cause the blade portion 25 to move toward the dotted line (Z-. These relative movements of the parts 22 and 25 are exactly opposite to the relative n'iovements of the handle and blade portions of an ()l'dllltlly oar and will thereby per mit the operator of a pair of these oars or propelling mechanisms to face toward the front or bow of a boat while propelling the same. To permit the handle and blade portions and 25 to be arranged at suitable angles in respect to the gunwale 5 for caus ing the blade portion 25 to dip into and be withdrawn from the water surrounding the craft equipped with this improved propelling mechanisn'i, the housing and its supported element may be rocked or rotated upon the shaft 1 0.

It will be noted'that this improved form of propelling mechanism can hardly be lost overboard as often happens with ordinary oars, using removable oar locks. To overcome the disadvantage of being unable to ship thepropelling mechanism, the pivotal mounting of the arcuate arms 9 upon the rod 8 will permit the entire mechanisn'i to be swung into the position shown in Fig. 3 with the handle and blade portion extending in parallelism from one side of the housing formed by the plates 12 and 13. To prevent movement of the handle portion which would cause the blade portion 25 to move vertically above the gunwale 5, a supporting hook 37 is provided and is intended to receive the handle portion 22, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

It is to be understood that the form of this invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be re sorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention, I claim 1. In a propelling mechanisn'i of the type described, a housing supported to pivot on a horizontal axis, a pair of spaced shafts extending through said housing to depend therebelow, meshing toothed sectors rotatably mounted upon said shafts, a socket projecting radially from each of said sectors, a handle having a shank received in one of said sockets, a blade having a shank received in the other of said sockets, and means pivotally carried by the depending portion of said shafts connected to the shanks outwardly of the socket for adjustably holding said shanks in said sockets.

2. In propelling mechanism of the type described, the combination with a gumvale, of a pair of parallel arms pivotally connected at their inner ends to said gunwale, a shaft connecting the outer ends of said arms, a bearing rotatably mounted upon said shaft. a housing including spaced, parallel plates connected to said bearing, a pair of spaced shafts extending in parallelism through the plates of said housing, a pair of meshing toothed sectors mounted upon said shafts between said plates, a radially projecting socket carried by each sector, an oar handle having a shank received within one of said sockets, an oar blade having a shank received within the other of said sockets. supporting arms pivotally connected to said spaced shaft-s below the bottom plate of said housing, and means carried by the outer ends of said supporting arms for connection with said oar handle and blade for preventing the shanks of the same from being with drawn from said sockets.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

FERNANDO L. CERVERA. 

